How to Be an International Lawyer
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We recently got a great question from a reader who's wondering how to be an international lawyer. We turned to our law school/young lawyer correspondent, Nicole (who is currently working abroad!) for her tips, as well as Kat's friend G (a DOJ lawyer on her third overseas assignment) for tips.
It's worthy of noting at the start that if you're working remotely for your company, there are 41 countries that now offer “digital nomad visas.” Here are Nomad Girl's tips on which countries are best suited to remote workers.
First, here's the reader's question:
I am a 3L in law school with a job lined up in Boston for next year, but I know my long-term goal is to live abroad. This seems difficult to do with a JD (as opposed to an LLM), and I bet it is also more limited for those in other professions that require U.S.-specific degrees/licenses.
Nicole's Tips on Working for BigLaw Abroad
I'm a U.S.-educated lawyer who lives and works in London. I have a JD, but I do not have an LLM, so you can definitely work abroad without having an LLM! I work for a law firm that has offices all over the world, and I was supposed to initially work in my firm's Chicago office. However, there was an opening in the London office, and I jumped at the chance.
To maximize your chances of working abroad, I would try to work for a firm or company that has offices outside of the United States and then make it known that you would be open to working in one of the offices abroad. Certain practice areas lend themselves more to working abroad; for example, I know a lot of U.S.-qualified lawyers in Europe that do capital markets/corporate work. A few of my colleagues simply asked the firm to transfer them to London rather than waiting for an opening, so this is definitely possible.
Good luck!
{related: what to pack for extended business trips}
Kat's Friend G's Tips on How to Be an International Lawyer
G is a lawyer with the DOJ on her third overseas posting; unlike Nicole she DOES have an LLM in Public International Law (as well as a JD). She is not currently practicing as a lawyer; she does training for prosecutors. As she clarifies, “I don’t appear in court or file papers in court or anything like that.” (She was a prosecutor in the U.S. for almost a decade, though!)
G noted that while she DID get to choose which overseas postings to apply to, her status as a direct hire with a limited term means that these aren't permanent postings; she has to renew her term annually.
G offered her best tips for someone working/living overseas for the first time:
For the first couple of months, don’t turn down any invitations. Force yourself to network and socialize even when you might not feel like it, because you want the invitations to keep coming. That’s how you’ll find your new tribe in your new surroundings, and finding your tribe can make the worst of circumstances so much better. Then, once you do, you can start being choosier about what you do or go to. But at first, be open! Try new things! Push yourself out of your comfort zone!
Big exception: anyone who gives you the creeps. Trust your instincts about anyone who creeps you out… it’s ok to turn their invitations down!!
Thank you for your great advice, Nicole and G!
{related: what businesswomen should wear in the Middle East}
Resources on How to Be an International Lawyer
Here are a few helpful online resources if you're interested in working abroad as a lawyer, with some selected tips:
10 Things To Know About Working As An Attorney Overseas [Above the Law]
“The most common scenarios [for working overseas] include working in an overseas office of a U.S. law firm or as a local hire in a foreign law firm. But American attorneys can also work in-house for the local subsidiary of a U.S. multinational company, or directly for a foreign multinational company.”
Where can you work if you specialize in international law? [Quora]
Can I get a job in a foreign country after an LLM in international law? [Quora]
- “If by ‘international law' you mean corporate transactions or multijurisdictional litigation, it’s a vague term that refers to a hodgepodge of different countries’ and states’ contractual rules, plus treaties, plus certain regulations applicable to a particular area of practice. … You may get into a particular sliver of this kind of ‘international law' if you get into a large, white-shoe law firm, but in terms of education, what’s really required is a background in contracts and and laws pertaining to specific business as they vary across different jurisdictions.”
- “Almost everything not under ‘international law' has an analogue under international law. There are international crimes, international IP issues, international contract issues. So, you can work almost anywhere doing almost anything.”
International Paths for JD Students [Duke Law]
- Private law firms: “The large U.K. based ‘Magic Circle' law firms and a number of U.S. based law firms hire U.S. law students to start directly in one of their foreign offices where they have a significant ‘U.S. practice.' The most common places to start are in London and Hong Kong, though on occasion students have started in Tokyo, Paris, and other locations. Students usually obtain these positions as they would full-time positions with any other large law firm: by working their 2L summer for the firm and then receiving an offer for full-time employment.”
- Public service organizations: “The many directions that attorneys with careers in international public service law take … include ‘human rights, diplomacy, foreign relations, democracy building, economic development, criminal prosecution, policymaking, treaty negotiation and convention enforcement, and all types of internationally oriented advocacy and activism.'”
Readers, have you ever lived and worked abroad (or investigated doing so)? If your job allows working remotely, have you considered a digital nomad visa? What are your best tips on how to become an international lawyer?
Stock photo via Stencil (and now I want to go to Belgium, sigh).
Retiring now, but I got into international arbitrations so I could travel more. I published things like FAQs on the various fora, went to all the training I could and begged to be put on any international matters, and it worked.
USAID hires lawyers to be regional legal advisors in the Foreign Service and places them all over the world. So that might be a good option for those interested in public service.
You can also have an international practice without leaving the US.
My practice group at a huge international firm was primarily focused on multi-jurisdiction transactional matters and I worked with colleagues in dozens of countries. I never left my office in the US for work–it was all via email/phone.
That said, we did sometimes get secondees from foreign offices and I imagine it might have been possible to go abroad (though our billable requirements and salaries in the US were much higher than what the firm paid abroad, so I don’t know how that would work).
If anyone is interested in going abroad (but still remain an associate in US biglaw firms), would definitely recommend looking at FCPA as a practice area. If I were going back in time, that’s what I’d do to ensure an “international”-type of practice!
Late to the party here but just felt driven to comment: I work in house at a large financial firm with offices around the world. Nearly everything I do has a cross-border component to it so while I am a NY lawyer, my actual work is extremely international. I thought (like so many idealistic young lawyers) that I was going to be practicing public international law once upon a time and the reality of international financial law, although I enjoy it, is far, far less glamorous: for me, being an “international lawyer” means trying to understand often conflicting regulatory regimes, joining conference calls at deeply inconvenient times (luckily I am a morning person and my work tilts towards Europe rather than APAC), always having at least one person on a call that you struggle to understand due to any number of accents (and I’m sure my colleagues would feel similarly about me), needing 5x the number of lawyers to nail things down across all relevant jurisdictions, and doing fun things like trying to figure out how to deliver legal notices in Cyprus. I like it, but I don’t think it’s anything law student me dreamed of.
I currently work in-house in Asia at an international company that is listed in the US so I support governance and US type work. Just picking up that recruiting call made all the difference and life as an expat is highly recommended. Be open to all opportunities and also putting it out to your networks that you are open to international opportunities is a good start.
Would you mind sharing a bit more about your expat in-house life? What’s your WLB like?
For anyone who doesn’t know (I had to google it!): WLB means work-life balance :)
Thanks Anokha. I wasn’t sure about WLB either. I’ll reach out to Kat to see if she wants a day in the life review. WLB is interesting. I have worked from home the entire time due to COVID so with kids in school it’s about the same as when I was in the US ( I moved mid pandemic). I’m slightly less social as we are still COVID cautious plus I am still making expat friends. But travel opportunities are great and there are lots of public holidays. My company has a lot of westerners so it is really busy and I have to be very careful about making sure my bondaries exist every day.
Being a lawyer is considered a plus for consular officer jobs in the US Foreign Service.
Putting a plug into government service (US) – lots of agencies, Dep’t of Defense, Dep’t of State, and many other agencies and commissions have attorneys assigned outside the US internationally working a host of real estate, treaty, contracts, environmental and other matters. It’s a great way to meet other folks in the international law field.